A CHARITY has called on the Government to do more to stop children buying alcohol in the wake of the deaths of two North-East boys.

Stuart Adams and Lee Mullis died when they were hit by a train while messing around on tracks in Darlington.

On Wednesday, an inquest into their deaths revealed they had drunk the equivalent of four to five pints of lager and were more than twice over the drink-drive limit.

Afterwards, Stuart's father, Trevor, led calls for an end to a culture of binge-drinking among youths.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for Alcohol Concern said the Government needed to do more to ensure the law was enforced to stop children buying alcohol.

She said a recent Home Office campaign found that about a third of off-licenses had sold alcohol to minors.

She said: "This is simply unacceptable. This sad incident underlines again concerns about young people and alcohol.

"Alcohol is a mind-changing substance that can cause people to make decisions and take risks they would not normally do, and this is even more the case in young people, whose bodies are less able to deal with the effects of alcohol."

Stuart and Lee died on Good Friday after they scrambled up a steep embankment and climbed a 6ft fence to get on the tracks.

Inspector Sue Collingwood, of Darlington Police, said the force undertook test purchases to catch off-licences that sold drink to minors. She said: "We also work with licensees and the majority of them behave responsibly.

"They do not want to sell alcohol to youngsters and they do not want large groups of them hanging around outside their premises."

Alcohol Concern said a quarter of school-age children drank alcohol every week and that under-16s drank twice as much as ten years ago.

She said: "With around a quarter of school-age children drinking alcohol in the last week, and under-16s drinking twice as much as they did ten years ago, it is crucial that young people get the education they need about the effects and dangers of alcohol consumption and, in particular, binge-drinking.

"Laws are in place to stop people buying alcohol under the age of 18, and it is important that they are enforced properly."

l The Northern Echo launched its No Messin' campaign after Stuart and Lee died.

It was launched in conjunction with Network Rail to highlight the dangers of rail crime while promoting positive activities for young people.

Last Saturday, The Northern Echo published a supplement listing activities for young people in the North-East and North Yorkshire. A column will also appear each week highlighting activities during the holidays.

The supplement can be downloaded at www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk